elizabethursday

‘Much to learn you still have’ – Yoda

Taylor Tuesday

I did it Mommy!  I rode my scooter the entire sidewalk!

elizabethursday

Do you think Granny will notice if I put a few of these in my bag? 

Taylor Tuesday

For my own sake, and the girl’s books that I will eventually make for them.  I wanted to catch up from missing last week’s posts. 

This is the ‘I wonder if anyone will notice if I open just this one present’ look.

elizabethursday

Over the weekend, my girls got to play with their cousins.  Elizabeth tried to keep up with the big girls, but sometimes would get frustrated.  After a while I realized that she was pretty quiet, so I couldn’t help but laugh when I found her like this.  They made use of the doll highchair(with the tray flipped over the back) and some cheerios and goldfish from a snack cup placed in one of the play kitchen bowls.  This girl loves her food and loved it even more being fed by her cousin.

Twirling under the Zilker tree

What started out as what I thought was the beginning of a holiday tradition turned out to be one of those moments that caught me off-guard and reminded me why I love my husband and why he is such a wonderful dad to our girls.  After a friend let me know today that the rain might stay away just long enough to take the girls down to the Zilker tree(something all Austinites MUST do) I called Chris and told him to leave work on time today.  Taylor was so excited about the idea of twirling around Christmas lights, but I knew she had no clue what was in store for her. 

You should’ve seen Taylor’s face as we walked up to the tree and she proceeded to inform us of the rainbow lights on the tree.  It was ‘ginormous’ and the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.  Then she proceeded to inform us that she had to go potty. (Oh the fun of porta-potties with a toddler)

We took advantage of the super bright lights by the potties for a few quick picks. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the Zilker tree, it’s a huge tree made of lights that you are to spin underneath.  Sounds corny, but is so much fun and makes you feel like a kid.  It started sprinkling on us as we walked up to the tree, so I knew our time there was limited, but it was awesome.  Now in this family I am the dancer and the one to encourage any chance for dancing, so when Chris picked up Taylor and spun her around and then picked up Elizabeth and did the same… my heart melted. 

Elizabeth got a bit more of a laid back twirl, but seemed to enjoy it.

The view for anyone who isn’t able to enjoy it in person.  Pictures don’t do it justice and it’s hard to show you the twirl look without it being a smear of lights.

Taylor trying to think of what colors of lights she sees before she’s off to twirling again.

Then my love picked up our two little loves and twirled them both.  BEST. DAD. EVER!!!

The three most important loves of my life!

Taylor Tuesday

It might just be a Christmas miracle if I get both Taylor Tuesday and Elizabethursday out on time this week but I am trying to start off right.

The past couple of weeks Taylor has been singing all the time in anticipation of her Christmas pageant at preschool.  She was even singing when I took her picture the other morning before the first day of the pageant.  She has also found a way to wear these sparkle shoes everyday and I LOVE it!

Baby Face

Taylor’s dance class did a mid-year mini recital in the studio.  I was able to get a babysitter to hang out at home with Elizabeth and actually got to focus on watching Taylor today.(it also looked like Elizabeth had a blast while we were gone)  I love that Taylor shares my love for dancing and she did incredible today.  I’m a bit biased but love watching her dance.  Taylor even got a surprise when her Ya-Ya showed up to watch her dance too.  We then took her to Firehouse Subs a few doors down for lunch.  This was HUGE is her world since she asks to go there every week when we leave class.  Here is our sweet girl in action.

Merry Christmas

I wish there was a way to send all of my lovely blog readers a Christmas card, but in case you don’t already get one here is ours this year.  Many thanks to my friend for taking such wonderful pictures that I had a hard time deciding which ones to use!

elizabethursday

Elizabeth thought she was hilarious trying to put sister's hat on.  She is quite the little entertainer now!  I threw a bonus photo in for you too!

Taylor Tuesday

Chris and Taylor started gun safety lessons by playing with a nerf gun the other day.  They were having lots of fun until Taylor figured out what they were shooting at and no longer wanted to use her duplo animals as the target.  I think we might have a problem when Taylor figures out what Daddy actually does when he goes hunting!

Where’s Daddy

Instead of finding my Taylor Tuesday picture that is almost 48 hours late and infringing on Elizabethursday that is also not ready, I found a picture that made me laugh. (English teachers don’t kill me over that sentence)

Can you find the Daddy hiding somewhere in this picture?  All I can see are two giggling little girls :)

Sister Saturday

Ever since Elizabeth started walking, her and Taylor play together in a whole new way.  Elizabeth has always been feisty, but watching them play on the slide the other day made me laugh.  Taylor kept rushing to slide again and again and I made her wait her turn.  I guess Elizabeth caught on and decided to tell her too!

elizabethursday

What do you mean the snacks are all gone?

Taylor Tuesday

A day late, but still before sending you Elizabeth's picture.  Is it wrong that Taylor was saying 'Woah tricycle' as if she were on a horse?  I also can't look at this picture without thinking of my grandfather saying 'Woah Nelly, she's headed for the pea patch.'  Not everyone will get that quote, but I know a few will.  Happy Wednesday!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our little turkeys(even the crabby one)!

elizabethursday

I'm not sure what I love more about this photo: the smile, the baby belly sticking out from the saggy pants, the toddling baby, or Chris' boxers as her entertainment.  Now that Elizabeth is walking, it is constant entertainment around here.

Taylor Tuesday

I love when I'm able to catch the kids at their normal state and not posing for the camera.  Even though he's no longer pink and not nearly as soft, Taylor still loves her bunny so much. 

elizabethursday

Now that Elizabeth is walking, outside play time is a whole new world for her.  It didn't take long before she found the truck and was ready to take off, too bad her feet don't reach the ground!

Family Pictures

Over the weekend we spent one morning taking family pictures.  I am so thankful for my sweet friend who is so patient with my girls and get amazing shots of them.  I stress so much over what we are going to wear, how I might want our pictures to look, are we too matchy, will this make me look fat, what will look great to hang on our walls and what pose do we want for Christmas card.  And then Elizabeth wants nothing to do with a family picture or sitting still, Taylor poses in all kind of wonderful ways, and all my ideas fly out the window. But it is all worth the stress when I see pictures like this or the others.  All my worries melt away and spend hours looking at the pictures again and again because I’m in love with how she captures our family! 

Thank you Heather!!!

Taylor Tuesday

I think I got so caught up in trick-or-treating pictures from Halloween that I completely forgot about what Taylor wore to dance class on Halloween.  The studio let them wear costumes and played fun Halloween songs.  Taylor took this as an opportunity to expand her costume ideas for this year and went as a 'Hawaiian-fiesta princess-butterfly-fairy' to dance class.  I love her imagination and creativity!

ps.  she had to change out of her cinderella heels so she could actually dance

elizabethursday

After looking at the pictures from Elizabeth's birthday party you might think it looked a bit like a wild frat party with our girl standing on the furniture and her bestie drinking from a plastic cup.  I love how much fun the little ones had climbing all over the chair and playing with an empty cup.  I'm not looking forward to the day when there might be a picture like this 18 years from now, but that cup probably won't be empty :)

Taylor Tuesday

Don't let my posts lately fool you on what day it truly is.  I just need to be better about getting these out in the correct date!
These are actually from our trip a couple weeks ago.  It is amazing what you will do to keep a toddler entertained in the airport but she was having a blast dancing around and demanded that I take her picture.  Good thing you can't hear my singing that went along with her dancing!

12 months old

For the past 12 months I have watched you grow sweet girl.  I have also taken your picture in the rocker with your teddy bear and watched you try to eat him, untie his bow, and drag him off to other parts of your room to play.  This month you decided that you were pretty funny and sat still for all of 2 seconds before starting your comedic/wiggle routine.  Good thing Heather is taking your pictures next weekend because you were not wanting me to this week!

Here are a few things you’ve been up to as you approached your first birthday:

• Nicknames: Lizzie, Lil bit, sister
• No clue on weight(will update after Dr. appt next week), but I don’t think she’s gained much over the past couple of months.  Wears size 3 diapers, and 6-12 month or 12 month clothes. 
• Even though I haven’t seen much on weight gain, Elizabeth LOVES to eat!  I rarely find something that she does not like or will not eat.  She will generally eat all her fruit or cheese first and then work her way through the rest of the food.  Sometimes she decided to be picky about what she wants out of her snack cup and will throw the rest on the ground, but if all the other good stuff is gone she will go back for the other items. 
• Elizabeth wants to do everything Taylor is doing and is very curious about how things work too.  I can just see her little mind clicking as she inspects toys or tries various ways to get through my ‘gates’ in other parts of the house. 

• You have a sweet way of turning any blanket edge or coffee table into a fun game of peekaboo.
• After months of signs, you finally cut two teeth on the bottom.  You are definitely not doing anything by the book because you have the bottom middle and then a side one with a space between the two.  You look like my little Jack-o-lantern for Halloween!
• Elizabeth is definitely my adventurous baby and keeps me on my toes, but is also a snuggler and will come by and love on you at any moment. 

 

• She is making all kinds of noises and is attempting to say a few words like: mama, dada, ‘a-ee’ for Sadie, ‘essa’ for Tessa cat, ‘a-or’ for Taylor, ‘e-e’ for kitty, ‘uice’ for juice/water, ya-ya.
• Lizzie is very close to walking and takes more and more confident steps everyday.  She gets so frustrated with knowing what she wants and what she can truly do right now.
• Within the past few days, Elizabeth has started pointing at what she wants.  Sometimes this helps us know what she wants to play with or eat, other times it’s items that she’s not allowed to have. 
• You LOVE toothbrushes and straws! 

 

• Elizabeth celebrated her first Halloween this year at 364 days old since she was born on November 1st.  Funny how much a difference one day can make!
• Learned to slide and you love it!
• Rode your first carousel, visited San Diego(including Legoland and the zoo), traveled on an airplane for the first time and barely slept on either flight, and walked in your first MS Walk to support some special ladies in our life.

 

Love you Lil Bit!  This past year has been amazing and gone by way too fast!  You have the best little personality and I can’t wait to see you grow and learn, just quit pulling your sister’s hair!

A few steps at a time…

Elizabeth has been taking more and more steps lately and slowly gaining her confidence.  Chris and I were working with her the other night and after a few times back and forth she started to play a trick on Chris and would laugh so hard each time. 

elizabethursday

I am almost a week late with this, but still wanted to get in last week's Elizabethursday.  Sweet Elizabeth spent a good chunk of our San Diego trip in the stroller, so she was very excited to play at the park one day.  This slide was just her size, but she wasn't so sure about it at first.  She eventually figured it out and was very proud of herself until Taylor decided it was time to move on to another area and gave her a quick little shove to help her get going.  Aren't big sisters so sweet!

Taylor Tuesday

I got to follow this cutie around last night as she pressed doorbells multiple times, commented on how everyone's decorations were, and found every porch light she could.  Meet Ariel Skywalker. (Elizabeth was Yoda, so Chris and I pulled out our Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia costumes.  Taylor wanted to be part of our group so she could carry a light saber too) 

Taylor Tuesday

No I didn't disappear, but last Tuesday the stomach bug that was visiting our house decided to attack me and then Chris.  Then we left for vacation and Elizabeth missed her chance at a weekly email so I figured I would just skip last week and start fresh with this week.  Life has can be pretty rough for a three year old sometimes and for some reason she was not happy for a bit at the pumpkin patch.  Luckily it only took a few moments before she was happy and playing again. 

elizabethursday

Mom, this is a lot more fun when you let me do it.

Taylor Tuesday

Even though Saturday's football game against A&M didn't turn out as we hoped, I had fun cheering our team on with this cutie by my side.  She loved sporting her Texas Tech gear!

ABC

After my friend Annalee posted this, I thought I would too.  I love learning new things about my friends and hope that my fellow blogging Mom’s will take a moment to do this too.

A. Age: 31

B. Bed size: king size memory foam and I LOVE it!  It is the perfect size for two little girls to snuggle and watch cartoons in.
C. Chore that you hate: washing the dishes & cleaning the shower
D. Dogs: Sadie, our 6 year old black lab
E. Essential start to your day: breakfast and coffee
F. Favorite color: purple and white
G. Gold or Silver: silver
H. Height: 5' 1
I. Instruments you play: I can keep beat with a maraca, but I would rather do the dancing
J. Job title: wife, momma, treasure hunter, sister, chief operating officer of this house (and Executive Director for my part time job at CTSA, I work from home most of the time which allows me to spend time with our beautiful kids)
K. Kids: Taylor Michelle and Elizabeth Lauren(aka Lizzie)
L. Live: Texas
M. Mother’s name: Delbra
N. Nicknames: ren, st end
O. Overnight hospital stays: two times to have our sweet girls
P. Pet peeves: a sink full of dirty dishes
Q. Quote from a movie: “quit looking at me swan!” or “squirrel!”
R. Right or left handed: right
S. Siblings: brother - ricky
sisters-in-law- kristen, kellie, and shelly & bro-in-law - jeff
T. Truth or Dare: truth, I’m a wimp at dares
U. Ultimate Vacation: anywhere with a beach and a chance to scuba right now
V. Vegetable you hate: beets
W. What makes you run late: trying to grab all the things that might keep the kids entertained if necessary
X. X-Rays you’ve had: teeth, ankle
Y. Yummy food that you make: chocolate chip or molasses cookies
Z. Zoo animal: giraffes